Tuning In to TV

By From Web and wire reports - -
Wednesday, June 29, 2011

News broadcasts get collective viewer boost

The evening newscasts have been fighting a war of attrition for years. But a particularly newsy second quarter with the royal wedding, the tsunami and earthquakes in Japan, and the killing of Osama bin Laden has given the broadcasts a ratings shot in the arm, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

All three newscasts added viewers in the second quarter - the first time they have reported a collective year-over-year increase in more than 10 years.

“NBC Nightly News” had its best quarter since second quarter 2006. “ABC World News” drew its biggest audience in three years. “CBS Evening News,” which had anchor Katie Couric pass the baton to Scott Pelley this month, was up 8 percent compared with the second quarter of 2010, averaging 5.6 million viewers for the just-ended quarter. Additionally, in Mr. Pelley’s first three weeks in the anchor chair, the broadcast has added more than a quarter-million viewers.

“Nightly News” with Brian Williams continued as the top-rated newscast, averaging 8.5 million viewers for the quarter, up 12 percent year over year. “World News” with Diane Sawyer averaged 7.6 million viewers with 2 million in the news target demographic of 25- to 54-year-olds.

Collectively, the three evening news broadcasts averaged more than 21 million viewers a week during the quarter.